Magic in the Flowers
by iconoclasticGentleman
Summary: -just a bit of fluff from our two favorite spadians- Queen Arthur is not very eager to sneak out of the castle on some farfetched adventure in the dead of night. Alfred is impossible to resist. Cardverse AU, USUK.


**This is my first piece put up on this profile, and it's chock full of crappy descriptions, crappy metaphors and crappy writing. And crappy, rather embarrassing references to pop culture, but oh well. And also, you'll get used to my horrible titles, I think, because all of my titles are horrible. I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. :)**

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Arthur had no idea why he was doing this.

"I have no idea why I am doing this," Queen Arthur of Spades called down from his perch in the tower that served as his chambers. it was a clear night, the full moon illuminating the darkness just enough to let him see the bottom where Alfred stood.

Alfred F. Jones was the complete opposite of what a King should be like, and the complete opposite of what Arthur thought he had always wanted, and yet Arthur found himself falling more and more for the man every day. Brash, adventurous and easily excited, he was a servant in the castle who had an enormous heart and was happy with his lot in life, and happy to share everything he could with Arthur. (Still, Arthur sometimes worried that he only wanted to get close to the Queen to somehow get power, but Alfred wouldn't do that- he was genuine.)

The monarch leaned over the stone wall while his window used to be and stared down to where Alfred was standing at the bottom with a coiled rope and a blinding smile. "You shattered my window with a pebble," he said in disbelief, "and I'm going to sneak out with you to do God-knows-what. Have I gone mad?" He wasn't sure whether he was asking Alfred or himself.

Alfred looked away as his expression crumpled apologetically. "I didn't know I threw it that hard," he pouted. "I'll pay for it, Arthur! I promise!"

His pleading expression, despite the situation, was incredibly endearing and Arthur felt his heart melt as he smiled. "Oh, damn the window," he called as Alfred's face lit up in relief. "But how the bloody hell am I going to get down there?"

In response, Alfred merely held up the length of rope.

Arthur's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. "No. There is no way in hell I am climbing down this tower to sneak out with you, Alfred fucking Jones." He frowned even as his resolve was already weakening.

"Silly, that's not my middle name!" Alfred teased, blue eyes shimmering in the moonlight. "Or is it- you'll never know! Anyway, it's either climbin' down or sneakin' out through the castle, and we'll never get out if we do that. Com'on, are you _scared_?" He smirked.

Growling, Arthur glared down at the tall blond at the jibe at his pride. "I'm not scared," he called, "I'm just being cautious- because, it's not like I'm too weak to do this or anything- rather the opposite. I am strong enough to do this!"

"I know."

"I haven't been swaddled all my life like some seem to believe!"

"I know."

"And if I fall?"

"I'll catch you," Alfred promised. "Now come on, Arthur, let's go!"

The two of them made eye contact through the clear night and after a moment, Arthur sighed as he relented. He could never say no to Alfred, he realized as he disappeared from the broken window, out of sight.

"Um, Arthur? Are you still there?" Alfred's nervous voice called from below when he did not immediately return.

Inside, Arthur finished unbuttoning his decorative overcoat, leaving himself in a pair of violet breeches and a billowy shirt. Folding it carefully over a chair, he shivered in the night air and made sure his room was locked before hurrying back to the window.

Alfred sighed when he appeared, grinning cheerfully and slinging the heavy rope off of his shoulder. "Can ya catch this an' tie it to something up there?"

Arthur glanced around and nodded.

With a smile, the servant began to twirl the end of the rope impressively. "You ready to catch this?"

The Queen glared and started, "Oh, just throw the thing already, you-" and cut himself off when the end of the rope came flying towards his face. Arthur flinched and didn't recover until he realized it had just barely fell short of the window and was about to fall back down to earth. In a flash, the blond reached out of the window and grabbed the rope with his bare fingertips, clutching it tightly with one hand and the broken windowsill with the other. Arthur grounded himself firmly with rope in hand, scowling down at Alfred.

"You are an imbecile," he announced before going to tie the rope securely in an intricate knot to a bedpost. His four-poster, quite elaborate bed was fastened firmly to the floor so it wouldn't move or be stolen (although who would even try to come up and steal from the quarters of the Queen of Spades, Arthur had no idea). He gave it a sharp tug before returning to the window, wiping his bleeding hand on a towel carefully. He looked down to see Alfred jumping to catch the end of the hanging rope and barely snagging it, holding it tight.

"It's just barely long enough," he lamented. Arthur rolled his eyes and rolled up his sleeves.

"Whatever, I'll be fine," he declared, examining the window for the best way to handle his "escape. The tower was only about 30 feet up, he thought, and made of ancient stone that had worn crevices and moss growing on it. In the end, Arthur just took a firm hold on the rope, tugged it a few more times for good measure and swung one leg over the windowsill.

"Oh, dammit Alfred," the blond groused as the glass cut him yet again, scratching lightly against his skin. He scrabbled with one foot until he found a hold and then, as Alfred watched in concern, eased the other foot over so he was hanging on the rope.

A breeze played across Arthur's face as he steadied himself, digging into the stone and pressing himself towards the wall. He inhaled a quick breath and resolved not to look down as gently, deliberately he began to lower himself down the rope.

It wasn't as hard as it seemed in the beginning, and Arthur was rather proud of himself as he got the hang of going hand-over-hand down the rope. That was, until he nearly slipped and yelped as his feet fought for a foothold again, with a deathly grip on the rope with both hands. Alfred held it steady from below, although Arthur could feel his hands shaking through the tremors of the rope.

"I got'cha, it's alright," he gave a nervous laugh, "Can I tell you how great your ass looks from down here?"

Arthur felt himself blush to the roots of his ears as he sputtered and nearly lost a hand on the rope again. Alfred was always making those stupid flirtatious remarks and Arthur knew he couldn't mean them, but they set his nerves aflutter all the same.

He looked down to see that in reality, he was only a few feet above Alfred and as revenge, spontaneously slid down the rope a few feet and reveled in the startled squeak that Alfred made. He jumped away from the rope as Arthur plummeted to the ground with a thump. The landing made him unsteady for a moment as he got to his feet.

"Don't do that!" Blue eyes were wide as Alfred contained his surprise and pouted. Arthur chuckled, dusting himself off and letting the rope fall against the side of the tower.

"Oh, don't be such a child. Now, where did you plan to sneak me out to, Mr. Jones?" He smirked.

The blond perked up and glanced up to where the full moon was already high above their heads. "Oh, right! Com'on, into the forest we go," he said and simply grabbed Arthur's hand to pull him along.

The Queen flushed a rosy pink color and struggled momentarily before giving up and following him, eying the wilderness uneasily. The two headed away from the castle to behind the tower, were neatly groomed lawn gave way to the tangled, dark forest. Alfred kept marching on without pause but Arthur hesitated, their hands pulling apart.

"Alfred, why the hell are we going in there?" He questioned sternly.

Alfred looked back with a reassuring smile and wink. "I promise you'll like it, just come on, Arthur. It's not that far."

Staring at him for a moment, Arthur rolled his eyes even as he gave in and followed Alfred away from the tower. They were quickly swallowed into the darkness and vegetation of the forest. Everything was dark and somewhere, a bird screeched loudly and things rustled in the night. The Queen of Spades glanced around nervously; he wasn't used to being in such an environment, although he certainly wasn't scared at all.

Instinctively, Arthur moved closer to Alfred's back as they made their way into the forest. When he realized he was doing so, he blushed and scowled, forcibly scooting away and trying to hide it. "How long are we going to be walking?" He demanded, even though they had barely traveled at all.

Alfred smiled. "Just a sec', Arthur."

Scowling, Arthur said, "Yes, well, if we have to go any farther-"

They came out of the winding path into a clearing and Arthur cut himself off as his breath caught in his throat at the sight.

Surrounding them were shimmering, glistening in the moonlight tens of petite, blooming flowers of violet and blue and purple hues. The delicate blossoms illuminated the darkness with their beauty and radiance, painting everything in a heavenly light the likes of which Arthur had never imagined. It was, to say the least, magical.

"My god," Arthur breathed reverently, his eyes impossibly wide as he took in the clearing. Something this beautiful was nearly unthinkable- unbelievable. How had this been on the edge of his palace and escaped them this whole time?

Alfred stepped up next to him as Arthur ever-so-gently took a step forward into the clearing, being careful not to touch anything. He smiled gently at Arthur and said, "I knew you'd like 'em. Beautiful, ain't it?"

Fascinated, Arthur only nodded.

"I dunno what they're called or anything, but they only look like this under moonlight. Like little stars, fallen to earth." His gaze shifted from the flowers as he continued softly. "So beautiful, but so far away from the other flowers.

"An' even if you did put them in with a normal garden, they're not gonna stick out. If anything, someone'll think they're too plain and sorta boring. So, nobody'll want them there... but they they're alone in the darkness, they shine... bright, like a diamond."

Arthur felt his cheeks slowly flushing as he could feel Alfred's unyielding gaze upon him. He was starting to realize that Alfred wasn't just talking about flowers.

The blond swallowed and turned to tentatively look up at Alfred, emerald eyes wary but hopeful, if one could call it that.

The two men met eyes and Alfred showed the first hint of nerves in his blue gaze, although it was strengthened by resolve. he took a step forward, nearly crushing one of the radiant flowers and seized Arthur's hands, although his hold was light and nearly caressing as his honest, sky blue gaze seared into Arthur's. The color was nearly as blinding as the flowers surrounding them and the emotions behind it, even more so.

"You're like one 'a these flowers," Alfred said quietly. Arthur gasped, unwilling to dream- _did he mean what Arthur thought he meant...?_

"And," Alfred's eyes glimmered passionately as this he declared, "not everybody may wait to see your beauty, but I have an' I will. I want to be the gardener that waters you, and keeps you healthy, and I want to stay up when everyone else has gone to bed thinkin' that nothing's gonna happen. I want to be the only one to stay up all night to see you like this- so completely and utterly perfect."

But before Arthur had the chance to fully realize that _yes, he did, he meant it_ Alfred kissed him.

And before Arthur had the chance to realize that _oh, oh my god alfred is kissing me_ and actually respond, Alfred broke away from him with a horrified expression.

"Omigod, I just kissed the Queen of Spades," he muttered in a rush to himself, covering his mouth and eyes wide. "Oh, oh my god I shouldn't a done that-" without another word he began to slowly back away from Arthur, still looking worried and alarmed.

One of the radiant flowers was crushed under his heel as Alfred turned away.

A tremor ran through Arthur's body, and "Freeze!" he cried. Alfred stopped in his tracks.

The blond Queen stood there, breathing unexpectedly heavily as he stared holes into Alfred's back. Then, fists balled, he stomped over towards the man (taking great care not to crush any of the flowers) and glowered in fury up at Alfred.

"You don't honestly expect to simply k-kiss the Queen of Spades and then scamper off without a word," he demanded. "I want an explanation!"

His mouth set in a firm line, the two blonds stared at each other in the moonlight for a moment. Arthur waited for a response until Alfred's gaze and expression both suddenly turned bitterly obedient and submissive. Slowly, deliberately he bowed his head and sank to one knee in the damp grass.

"I apologize, Your Majesty." Alfred hadn't called him that since the day they'd met. "Will you allow me to give a most respectful explanation?"

Arthur observed Alfred's reverent position and spiteful tone, kneeling in front of him, for a long moment. Then he turned his nose up away from him. "No," he said petulantly. "Now you've lost your chance. You'll simply have to kiss me again."

Silence hung in the humid, intoxicatedly perfumed air as Arthur restrained a smirk and continued to pout (although he couldn't withhold a blush) and Alfred's head whipped up in astonishment. He saw the twitch of Arthur's lips and immediately a stupendous, beaming grin split from ear to ear across his face as he climbed to his feet rapidly. Alfred's hands, uncharacteristically trembling with excitement or maybe nervousness, tentatively came to rest on Arthur's waist and neck as he stepped closer.

Leaning in face-to-face with the Queen, Alfred's voice however wasn't nervous at all as he murmured with a smile, "As you wish," and then swooped in to kiss Arthur again.

Now that Arthur wasn't totally stunned and incoherent, he realized that Alfred... actually wasn't the best kisser in the world. That would have to be remedied, he decided as the two broke apart softly.

"So, what does this mean?" Alfred whispered. "Are we, uh..."

"It means I've fallen in love with a reckless servant boy who is going to have to sneak me back into the castle in the morning, " Arthur said simply, breaking away to lay down among the flowers. He stared up at the moon and yawned, feeling rather tired, satisfied and somehow warmer than he could ever remember being. Something had sparked inside of him, something foreign but not unwelcome and Arthur felt it flare up every time he looked at Alfred- his Alfred.

Arthur closed his eyes just long enough to hear Alfred chuckle and lay down beside him before nodding off, more peaceful than he had been in in a long time.

So maybe Alfred wasn't actually his King (yet). So maybe the castle was in an uproar in the morning over their missing Queen, and maybe they nearly got Alfred tossed in prison and executed for kidnapping the Queen of Spades., but in the end, it was all worth it.


End file.
